est work, and, doubtless,
making it quite clear that any man who failed him at the pinch would
find scant mercy at his hands. And, at last, the wind dropped. The land
was no longer on the eastward, the Cape of Storms had been doubled, and
from the decks of the three vessels went up the sounds of praise and
thanksgiving that the 'passage perilous' was accomplished.

But the crew of the _San Raphael_ needed yet another lesson to make them
into such a band as their captain needed for his great adventure.
According to the strange custom of that age, Vasco had on board several
convicts, who had been released from prison, where they lay under
sentence of death, that he might employ them upon any service of danger
for which he was unwilling to risk his better men. A band of criminals
who had broken their country's laws and were not likely to be troubled
with scruples, must have been a rather dangerous element among a
somewhat disaffected crew; and, as the ship sailed northward and again
met with rough weather, the convicts on board the _San Raphael_, seeing
their opportunity, began to plot treason against the captain. One after
another of the crew was won over to a plan which promised a speedy end
to the weary, dangerous voyage, and the ringleaders found means to
communicate with their friends on board the other two ships, so that all
was arranged for a general mutiny.

But there was one member of the expedition, perhaps the smallest and
least important person on board, to whom it was given to save the whole
undertaking from destruction. One of the conspirators on board the ship
_San Miguel_, had a little brother, who had been kindly treated by the
captain, Nicolo Coello, and loved him with a boy's hero-worship of a
brave man who had been good to him. Perhaps the conspirators thought the
lad too insignificant to be dangerous; at any rate, he knew the details
of the plot and told the captain of what was planned.

Coello's one thought was how to save his friend and leader. It was too
rough for him to board the _San Raphael_; the warning must be shouted
above the noise of winds and waves, and yet it must be for Da Gama's ear
alone. His only hope was in his friend's quickness of wit, and in the
perfect understanding between them. So, from the deck of his own vessel,
he shouted to the _San Raphael_ that his men were all for abandoning the
expedition, and that he was constrained to agree with them and to pray
the captain to give t